IVI 3D Printer | Forum

How should a 3D printer noob prepare for the IVI?

#1

Hello 3D printer veterans! :printer:
As someone who has never owned or used a 3D printer before, I am hoping some advice can be given to people like myself as we wait for our IVI to arrive. Such as:

  • What type of location should we put our printer in?
  • How much space should we have for the IVI?
  • Should we stock up on filament ahead of time or is that a bad idea?
  • Is there any special about storing filament? I’ve read that it can be affected by moisture, should it be stored in a sealed container with desiccant or something like that?
  • What type filament is best for those just starting out, and what type is best for different tasks?
  • I’ve also read that some filaments and laser use produces fumes. I know that a solution is in the works for the IVI and I’m wondering if I can have any ductwork or venting in place ahead of time.

edit: adding in one more thing that @mcenal made me think of

  • What modeling software and slicing software does everyone recommend for a beginner, I have access to Linux, Windows and macOS but others may not, so I would love to hear about options on each. If there is one piece of software that is cross platform and exists on all three then I’d love to hear about that, too.

There are probably additional things I have missed concerning getting the work area ready for the IVI and I hope the community will point them out.

Thanks

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#2

I currently have a 3D printer so I know a bit about this stuff.

  1. Location: Anywhere it fits nicely on a flat surface where it can run uninterrupted (as you might need to be running it for dozens or hundreds of hours non-stop on a single print.) Secondly because it is a closed unit you shouldn’t need to worry about ventilation and micro-plastics in the air, but if you do have a workshop outside of your living space that always is a better idea.

  2. Space, basically if you know the space of the unit you shouldn’t need much more than that. Obviously storage of other items such as other print heads, filament and support items will come into play but the printer itself is really like a paper printer as you only need enough space for it to sit on a flat surface. Your supplies you’ll have to figure that out.

  3. Filament, buy some in advance so you have something to work with once you have your printer, but don’t buy too much. You will have to decide how the material works for you with the printer and how it behaves before investing in a ton of it. Usually there is a lot available on Amazon and other sites for reasonable prices and fast enough shipping so if you have a starter spool to play with that is sufficient.

  4. Storing filament. It is plastic so it really depends on what kind you purchase and where you live. If you live in a dry/cold environment, shouldn’t be a problem, such as where I live. I have had no problems whatsoever. If it is summer in Florida or Louisiana then do a quick check once you get it in the mail. Have a small amount out and see how it behaves with the moisture. while the rest in a sealed container with the desiccant. If after a few days you don’t see any changes, you might be fine. More importantly is being able to store it in close proximity to your printer so you can change spools when necessary.

  5. Filament absolutely have different properties for different jobs. They have different melting temperatures, different colors, different opacity, some is food safe - most is not, some better for strength and heat sensitivity, You’ll have to do research a bit on that.

  6. The plastic that you need to worry about for fumes is ABS. PLA on the other hand has no odor, PVA is non-toxic, and PET is food save. Check out this link for more details.
    https://www.allthat3d.com/3d-printer-filament/

I hope this helps a bit and good luck with your 3d printing future. Do you also have a few different models you want to try in the beginning? Something simple but useable? That will also get you excited to use the printer.

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#3

Thanks for the reply, Andrew, it was quite helpful.

I hadn’t even given food safety a thought, and even though I have no plans now to make food use items it is good to know. I will definitely make use of the resource you linked https://www.allthat3d.com/3d-printer-filament/, thanks for that.

I have a few ideas in mind, but no actual models of them yet. I guess I should start playing around with some modeling and slicing software to get a bit familiar with it. At least I have plenty of time before my IVI arrives!

Thanks again

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#5

I’m a newb as well to fdm printers, this is all good info. I know exactly where it will go, next to my resin printer.

#6

Also FDM 3D printer noob here.
How do we use different filament materials, like PLA, ABS, etc? Is it plug n play, just insert the filament and print, or do we have to calibrate the printer configuration, like temperature, timing, etc?

#7

My old printer has a setting to set that. I don’t know the

enginneering of the IVI so I can only speculate. I would guess a setting that is easy to change. Each material has different melting points so you have to change the printer profile for it to work. The simplest and most efficient would be in software.

#8

Great write up!.. Thanks mcenal.
this will be my first personal printer - had access to one a few years ago, but that seemed very flakey/inconsistant.
Hoping this is a much more mature platform.

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#9

That’s good to know!
@mcenal Thanks for the helpful reply
Nice to have experienced users sharing their knowledge here in the forum to noob like us.

Here’s hoping that ivi has user-friendly UI to handle all supported materials.
5 more months to go!

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#10

I’m currently learning cad drawing using auto desk fusion 360. It’s available on windows, Mac, and Linux.
The interface is less intimidating so it’s good for noob with no cad drawing experience like me. They also have good video tutorial to learn the basic.
Non commercial user can use it free for a year if you register. You may need to find alternatives after 1 year is up though as the license subscription fee is quite expensive.

I downloaded blender before as it is open source and free to use. But I got overwhelmed by the UI and didn’t know how to start. I may start trying it out again when I have time.

#11

You will also need different adhesives for different filament types if it does not stick well to the bare bed (should probably do a test of each type and record your results with the IVI). Some work better with blue painters tape, or hairspray, etc. on the bed.

There are tons of sites that sell filament that actually list what the community or company has found to work best with that particular filament type (along with heat settings for both the bed and the print head.)

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#12

I’ve used hairspray. Lots and lots of hairspray. The painter’s tape worked well, until I had to rip off the tape because it went with the prints. Actually the best thing I have found was gluestick. That works amazingly well and doesn’t leave a lot of residue.

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#13

Browse thingiverse and find stuff you want to print!

This will give you plenty of things that will be fun to work on.
a good starting place is here:

Find a hobby you can support with your 3d printing and you will never run out of projects for it, in my case I play tabletop RPGs and 3d print terrain and minatures.

  • What type of location should we put our printer in?
    I would suggest a garage office or living room, as others have said somewhere nearby and not where you sleep. It depends on how loud it is where you can tolerate it. I have two other printers, one of which is fine most anywhere it fits as it is incredibly quiet, the other I had to keep moving it further from where I spend my time as it was very loud.

  • How much space should we have for the IVI?
    Its base unit size and probably another rubbermaid container for filament

  • Should we stock up on filament ahead of time or is that a bad idea?
    I would pick up a roll of ABS and a Roll of PLA, in your favorite colors, aside from that it depends on what you like to print. When I was printing dungeon tiles on one of my other printers I was able to go through a roll in about 5 days, normally however rolls last weeks to months depending on projects.

  • Is there any special about storing filament? I’ve read that it can be affected by moisture, should it be stored in a sealed container with desiccant or something like that?

as others have said it depends where you live. I live in WI, USA and have no issues over the short term, others have had issues, but it tends to take many months or years for the filament to really get in bad shape. It is easily prevented by the rubbermaid container and a gun safe dessicant (rechargable, no power usage normally, just set in the container), personally I just don’t keep more than 1-2 rolls open and keep the rest in the plastic they shipped in.

  • What type filament is best for those just starting out, and what type is best for different tasks?
    The link that was provided above gives all the details, however in short 90% of people only print in PLA in the home 3d printing environment from what I understand, and the remaining 10% mostly print in PLA/ABS. Commercially is a completely different world on this.

  • I’ve also read that some filaments and laser use produces fumes. I know that a solution is in the works for the IVI and I’m wondering if I can have any ductwork or venting in place ahead of time.

Noone will stop you, but ABS at least has gotten significantly better on the fumes over the years, it still doesn’t smell great, but even inexpensive filament has been adjusted to be both safer and less horribly oderous. I personally use amazon basics filament and Hatchback most of the time, but even the Esun filament from hobbyking (cheapest filament I could find at the time) wasn’t too bad

  • What modeling software and slicing software does everyone recommend for a beginner, I have access to Linux, Windows and macOS but others may not, so I would love to hear about options on each. If there is one piece of software that is cross platform and exists on all three then I’d love to hear about that, too.
    For modeling engineering items I use fusion 360. If you just want to poke around I highly recommend tinkercad. Fusion 360 has a hobbiest license if you dig around that allows it to be free if you gross less than $100k in a year, and tinkercad is browser based and completly free.

If you love programming then people rave about openscad, I have never gotten into it deeply as I was trained on solidworks/inventor in school and fusion 360 works great for me.

For slicing I have used Cura quite a bit, however my latest printer came with simplify 3d and as expected it works amazingly well. (Latest printer is Makergear m3 SE)

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#14

This definitely sounds like a good skill to have before the IVI arrives. I may wait a little bit to maximize the free year since I won’t have a printer for a little while. Thanks, Henry. I’ll check out blender, too!

#15

It looks like I’ll need to add storage space for adhesives as well as filament in my printing area. Good to know, thanks. I see the IVI has a carbon fiber print bed, does this need the same treatment as glass, etc?

#16

Dear all, here is an article from All3DP that I think worth sharing with all of you. Hope you find it useful.

3 Likes
#17

Hello All,
I currently have 4 3d printers ranging from a old 4x4x4 1UP to a modified CubeX 12x12x12 a Tevo tarantula and a Geeetech Pursa I3 both roughly 8x8x8.

  1. As stated before any flat area that wont get bumped and bothered is fine. A small work bench with storage underneath works well.
    2-3. Filliment can degrade over time as moisture penetrates the plastic keeping any opened spools in containers with a desiccant pack is always a good idea. A good way to check it is a bend test. If you bend it in half and it turns white or breaks it’s getting old and may not give perfect prints.
  2. Best type of filliment depends on the print. I’m particularly fond of PETG it is stronger than abs without the warp issues no odors and food grade safe. PLA is most common use for starting out but PETG will also be a good one if you ar wanting a stronger mor durable part.
  3. IVI is contained so fumes from any of your projects shouldn’t be a issue.
    6.IVI comes with it’s own slicing software but if you want to try others I use Repeater as I can USB connect all my printers to it and run all 4 printers at the same time but have the convenience of manually changing anything at any time. Cura is another on I enjoy using.

Hope this info helps @rusty-bits if you or anyone else have any other questions feel free to hit me up.

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